Missing Outlook Express inbox.dbx after chkdsk.

Question

After booting my XP SP2 machine the other day, Chkdsk ran on startup, I opened Outlook Express to find all my emails had disappeared. I checked my Outlook Express .dbx files to discover that a new inbox.dbx file had been created.

I assumed that the old inbox.dbx had become corrupted, and checked the temporary "Found.001" directory that is created by chkdsk, there was only two files in this directory not related to Outlook Express.

I have tried to run two file recovery program to get data back and Restorer2000, but cannot find the missing inbox.dbx file. Do I have any chance of recovering this .dbx file or is it gone?

Answer 1

The only thing at this point is to use a file recovery application. Even if you've tried the recovery solutions, I recommend giving another try with the Recuva as well. The software features a Deep Scan feature that helps you scan ever further for the lost files.

Download and install the application using the following link: http://recuva.software.informer.com

After you launch the software, configure search path, tick the all files option and then enable the Deep Scan. It will take longer, but the results will be better. Once it finishes the scan, input INBOX.DBX in the search file. If the file is there, it should be listed. Right click it and then export it to another location on your hard drive.